A mother's revenge
by Lorelei Candice Black
Summary: After the graduation, Mal's mother figures out how to get back to her human size self and wants revenge on her daughter for turning her back on her. She finds a surprising ally in getting her daughter back to her and away from everyone she loves and cares about. Will they find her before she forgets about Ben? Mal/Ben.
1. Chapter 1

_**A mother's revenge**_

 _Mal/Ben_

 _There will be a couple of songs in there and I might even change some of the lyrics in it._

 _Mal's mother figures out how to get back to her human size self and wants revenge on her daughter for turning her back on her. She finds a surprising ally in getting her daughter back and away from everyone._

* * *

After the eventful coronation ceremony, Maleficent, in her lizard form, had been placed in a special enchanted cage and sent back on the Isle of the Lost, where her 'friends' would take care of her.

They had offer to let Mal keep her in a cage in her bedroom, and she had for a while, hoping it would get her mother to see things her way and to love her more but after about a week, the teenage girl was uneasy. She felt watched, judged and criticized every second, she could barely sleep because her lizard mother made so much noise every time she tried to close her eyes or when she did her homework. If this had been any other animal, she would have thought it was natural but coming from her mother, she knew it was the only way her evil mother had found to hurt her and punish her. Mal ended up taking the decision to let her go back to the Isle of the Lost and didn't regret it.

Once back in the Isle, Maleficent's cage was placed on the kitchen table of the large place she shared with the Evil Queen, Cruella and Jafar.

"Shouldn't we let her out?" The Evil Queen wondered.

"I know that I'd hate being restricted to this little boring cage." Cruella nodded.

Jafar, seeing that they all agreed, opened the sage, letting the cute little lizard walk out of its cage.

Maleficent knew that she wouldn't be able to change back into a human while on the Isle, she needed to leave it, go back to a place with magic. Back in the coronation hall, she was about to change back into a human when they trapped her first under the beast's magic glass and then in an enchanted cage. Her friends had let her out and now her plan was simple: snick out of the Isle on the next delivery truck that came.

She wouldn't be able to change into a dragon anymore, her new animal form was one of a lizard, but she didn't care, she wanted to give her daughter a very valuable lesson and she already knew how she would do it. It would take time but it would be well worth it.

Mal had betrayed the trust her mother had placed in her and Maleficent wasn't a very forgiving person. Her own daughter had sided with the enemy, fallen in love with the son of the man who had imprisoned them all on the Isle. She'd pay for it, she'd come to understand how wrong she was and she'd go back to being on her mother's side.

In order to do what she wanted, Maleficent would need a safe place, a lair, where she'd be able to take her daughter to and she had the perfect place in mind: an isolated tower lost in the dark haunted woods. She'd go there first, prepare everything, get everything ready and then she'd go to Auradon's school to get her daughter. Once they were alone, far away from this _Ben_ who had poisoned her head with love, she'd be able to win her daughter back to her cause, she knew it. And Mal would understand why she's being punished, she'd understand and she'd do anything her mother asked of her.

* * *

Audrey wasn't a happy princess. Of course she had fun with Chad, but he wasn't the one she wanted, she wanted Ben. Not because she loved him but because she knew that she'd look good by his side as a queen. She didn't understand how he could love Mal so much, how they could be so happy together. He should be with her and she had only one mission in mind: get him back, no matter what she had to do in order for it to happen.

Unfortunately for her, she had a hard time finding people willing to help her. The fact that Mal and her friends had saved the day at the Coronation had given them a place in the school, they had more friends than ever and Audrey had to pretend to be their friend also in order to not be suspicious. However, she knew that she could count on Chad, the lovely idiot could be swayed by her fake smiles and she loved that he was always ready to do anything she asked of him, without questioning her.

* * *

It had been about a month since she had let her mother go back to the Isle of the Lost and Mal was happy, something she had never thought she would truly be in her life.

Ben loved her and she loved him back. To prove it before she could even begin to have doubts, he had explained to her that, after her love spell washed out in the lake, he had decided to check if she was using him or simply wanted to have a chance with him. He explained how that pure glowing white rock he had given her after getting her out of the lake was very special. It glowed in his hand because he loved her and it kept glowing once she held it because she loved him back, even if she didn't know it yet. He had gotten back sometimes after she let her mother go and had given it to her, as a reminder that, as long as it glowed, their love was strong. Using magic, Mal had separated it into two halves and now they each had one half to look at when they couldn't be with the other one.

Two halves of a whole, just like them.

Ben also confessed something to her that he hadn't told anyone else: his visions. He had told her that he took the decision to give her and her friends a chance after having had a vision of her and having fallen in love with this vision. He also had had a vision of after the coronation, which was why, after family day, he was so sure that everything would be fine for the 4 teenagers once the coronation was over.

Seeing how open he was being with her, Mal opened up about a subject that hurt her a lot: her name. She had explained to him that her mother wanted to name her Maleficent too but that she only gave her the first syllable because she hadn't deserved the full name yet. Having just a part of a name because your mother doesn't think you deserve a full one was something that hurt Mal a lot. Of course now she didn't want Maleficent's name, she didn't want to have a name that held so much evil and terror in it.

That's when Ben suggested that she chose her full name herself. He told her that he loved her current name: Mal, but he added that if she really wanted to change it, he'd help her. In the end, Mal decided she'd look for another name with Mal in it so that she could keep on being called this way.

"So, how was your day? I saw you speaking with Audrey earlier. She seemed friendly enough from where I stood." Ben asked Mal, fishing for information.

"She was trying to be nice, yes." Mal nodded.

"Trying?"

"I could tell that it was fake. I think she's playing nice with me because everyone else is nice to the four of us now. She doesn't want to stand out but she definitely doesn't like me." She confessed.

"Well, I'm sure you'll grow on her. You grew on my parents didn't you? They love you now. I'm sure everyone else will too. Anyone that matters anyway." He smiled, making her smile in return.

They were on their way to dinner, something they always did together now. There, they met up with Doug and Evie and sat with them. Jay was off to another table with some members of the team and Carlos was eating with Jane and Lonnie, enjoying having both girls flirting with him.

"Everything okay, E?" Mal asked her, seeing how deep in thoughts and worried she looked.

"You know how Fairy Godmother allowed us to write a letter to our parents and to receive their answers as long as the letters were being checked first for magic or other armful things?" Evie asked her.

"Yeah, I do. Why? What did you mother answer?"

"Nothing much. She's trying to appear nice on paper to lure me back in but she did tell me something troubling."

"What is it?" Ben asked.

"They let your mother out of her cage and now they can't find her anywhere. She just said it because she was explaining how tired she was from having looked everywhere but... I don't know, with your mother, we never know..." Evie explained, shrugging her shoulders.

"Could she turn back into a human?" Ben asked.

"Not as long as she was in the cage, not even on the Isle of the Lost because there is no magic there but if she can find a way out of the Isle, she could definitely turn back to her human form." Mal replied, much paler.

"Don't worry Mal, I'll warned he guards and they'll just be more careful." Ben reassured her.

"I just got the letter and I immediately told Fairy Godmother, right before we came here." Evie added.

"Thanks E. I guess we'll just have to keep an eye open." Mal nodded.

"I know you Mal, I can feel how worried you are. Don't worry, I'll get the guards to look for her and to watch out for you." Ben promised his girlfriend in a whispered voice while Doug and Evie went to get desert.

"I don't want to be a burden Ben. I'm sure the guards have better things to do than to follow me around." Mal shook her head.

"Well, I was thinking of having them just watch the entrances but you'r right, I'll have a couple of them follow you around. You're no burden Mal. I love you and I can't let anything happen to you. I can't lose you. Please, accept it?" He begged her and, seeing how sincere and truly worried he was being, she nodded, agreeing to have two bodyguards follow her everywhere she went.

She tried to hide just how truly worried she was for herself but she knew that he could see through her brave facade. She could remember how cruel her mother could be when she disappointed her back at home, when she was a child who simply refused to hurt one of her friends too badly for no reason. She knew that her mother wouldn't come back to forgive and forget, or even to scold her and tell her how disappointed she was in her daughter. No, she came to hurt, torture and get revenge.

Ben and Mal ate their dinner quickly before they both went to the big palace, to inform Ben's parents of everything they had learned and see what Fairy godmother and his parents had decided would be the best course of action. As they left, none of them saw that Audrey had been sitting right behind them and had heard everything that Evie had told them.

"Audrey, what's going on? Why are you smiling like that?" Chad asked her.

"Something very good for me just happened. Now I just need to grab that opportunity and rise up." She replied mysteriously, already thinking of way to signal Maleficent that she wanted to help her.

 _._

Audrey did researches a while before she found what she was looking for: one of the rare birds who delivered letters to whomever you asked them to. Once she had it, she wrote a simple letter that went straight to the point:

 _"Maleficent,_

 _I know that being Aurora's daughter, you and I would be natural enemies but it just so appear that we might have a common goal:_

 _You want to get your daughter back, (I don't care what you do once you have her) and I want her gone from this school._

 _They know you're coming and are placing more security around the school._

 _I'm willing to help you get what you want, because it's what I want._

 _I have a window of opportunity Monday if you answer quickly._

 _Audrey"_

Smiling happily, she gave the letter to the bird and let him fly away before she went to bed. She thought she'd need to wait a few days before she got a reply from Maleficent but less than 3 hours later, the bird was back and waking her up with a reply.

 _"Interesting._

 _How do I know that I can trust you? How do I know that this isn't a trap?_

 _Maleficent"_

Her reply was brief but it made Audrey smile. She had thought of that. She hurried to her desk without waking her roommate up and quickly wrote her own reply:

 _"Next Monday I'll have a homecoming dress delivered in my room. It's in a large wooden case for protection and you'll fit in it. It has my name on it and will be delivered directly in my bedroom. A copy of my dress order is included in this letter. I'm sure you're more than capable of sneaking into the shop and into the case._

 _Audrey"_

She knew that she was playing with fire but trusting Maleficent was worth the risk if it allowed her to get rid of Mal and have Ben all to herself. All she had to do was wait for next Monday. Then, she'd have everything she wanted and Mal would be gone for good. She be back at the top of the school's food chain. If she didn't act quickly, Mal would be elected Homecoming Queen and she couldn't let it happen.

.

The next week went by pretty quickly. The additional security placed on the school was discreet, except for those who followed Mal everywhere. Everyone knew that there was a risk that Maleficent was coming but they all had faith that things would end well. Everyone was so hopeful that Mal was starting to feel safe again as well.

She hadn't forgotten that her mother might be on her way to her, but she was starting to believe that she was safe again and that good would win. Ben was especially good at making her feel loved and safe. When he was by her side, she felt like nothing bad could ever happen to her and her friends.

"Goodnight Mal, I'll pick you up for breakfast, okay?" Ben asked his girlfriend after dropping her off to her dorm room after the afternoon spent with his parents.

"As usual. Goodnight Ben." She replied.

"I love you. Always." He whispered before kissing her.

"I... Me too." She smiled, unable to actually say the words yet but ti didn't matter because he knew that she felt it and he didn't need for her to say it, as long as she kept on showing it.

With one last kiss goodnight and an intimate smile shared Ben left to go to his own room.

Mal entered her bedroom knowing it would be empty. Evie had been invited to a pajama party in Lonnie's room and her best friend had jumped on the occasion to have some 'girly girl' time. Mal had been invited as well but she knew that she'd come back too late from Ben's parent's place and she liked spending time with Ben much more than spending it with the other girls.

"Well, well, well, look who's coming back late after spending the day with MY boyfriend." Audrey declared as soon as the door was locked.

"What are you doing in here? You need to leave, you have no right being here." Mal exclaimed angrily.

"Oh, don't mind me, I only came here to show _her_ the way to your bedroom." Audrey smirked, moving to show that Maleficent was standing in the dark corner of the bedroom.

"Mother?" Mal whispered, afraid and taking a couple of steps back.

She knew that without the Fairy's wand in her hand, she had very little chance to win against her mother. Love might be powerful but was it strong enough to defeat her mother? Without thinking, she grabbed her half of the glowing stone and placed it in her pocket. She needed Ben and she felt, when she had it, that he was with her, in a way.

"Now, now Mal, someone needs to be punished. How many times have I warned you about being a good girl?" The evil sorceress shook her head.

"Well, I'll be going now If you don't need me anymore. It was nice doing business with you Maleficent but I can't stay, I have school in the morning and a boyfriend to get back." Audrey declared and, after a nod from Maleficent, she left the bedroom.

"Mother, you should leave before it's still time." Mal warned her mother, wondering why the guards hadn't detected her yet.

"If you're hoping that your boyfriend's guards will show up, don't bother. Audrey and I have already put them to sleep for the next few days. Audrey told me that Evie was in another room for the night so we have all the time in the world." Maleficent replied, not hiding her anger.

"I'll fight you again, I'm not afraid." Mal warned as her eyes started to glow but, before she could finish her sentence, her mother had spelled her to sleep.

Quickly, Maleficent grabbed her sleeping daughter and rushed discreetly out of the school, using the cover of the night while it was still there.

.

"Hey Evie, have you seen Mal? We were supposed to meet for breakfast but she wasn't in her bedroom or in the cafeteria. I've heard that she wasn't in her morning classes either." Ben asked.

"I was about to ask you the same thing. I'm getting worried too. I went to look in our bedroom and everything is still in the same place. The only thing missing is that glowing rock you share with her but I know that she sometimes just keeps it with her to feel like you're close." Evie replied.

"Do you think she might be sick?" Ben asked her.

"If she were, she'd have stayed in bed." Evie shook her head.

"What's going on?" Carlos asked them.

"Have you seen Mal today?" Evie asked him.

"No, not since last night when I saw Ben dropping her off. Do you want me to ask Dude to look for her?" he asked them.

"Look for her?" Ben asked, confused.

"I've taught him to track scents." Carols explained proudly.

"Might as well try." Ben shrugged his shoulders.

They rushed back to the bedroom to grab something with Mal's scent on it and they let an eager Dude to sniff it. Immediately the dog turned around in the bedroom before he rushed out the door. They followed him through the corridors and through the front door, through the yard and in front of the entrance portal.

"She can't have left, I refuse to believe this." Ben shook his head.

"Even if she had left, she wouldn't have left everything behind. Someone forced her to leave." Evie agreed.

"Or someone took her forcefully." Ben added.

"You're thinking about Maleficent?" Carlos asked him.

"Of course I am."

"But how could she have gotten through the defenses?" Evie asked him.

"I'm planning on finding this out right now. Come." he replied before he rushed in the direction of Fairy Godmother's office.

.

A couple of hours later, Ben was in fairy Godmother's office with his parents, Carlos, Dude, Evie, Doug and Jay. They were all very worried for Mal. Jane and Lonnie had been informed and volunteered to try and find out if anyone had seen anything.

"It looks like the guards have been spell to sleep. They're in no danger and should wake up in a couple of days but it might be too late by then." The beast explained.

"Dude tracked her up to the school's entrance, maybe he can track her further." Carlos suggested.

"There was a lot of wind last night, the chances of him getting a scent outside the school's limits are very slim." Fairy Godmother shook her head.

"Maleficent couldn't have gotten in on her own, I'm sure she had help." Ben declared.

"Do you realize what you're saying Ben?" Belle asked him, shocked.

"I do, and I'm sure that I'm right. Someone in this school helped Maleficent take Mal away and I will find out who did it, I'll get answers from them and I will find Mal and rescue her from her mother. Then this person or people will pay." Ben replied in a strong and angry voice.

It was the first time that his parents saw him so angry and he reminded Belle of her husband, before he fell in love with her. If something bad happened to Mal, she could feel like her son would end up becoming a beast too. They needed to find her, not only for her son's sanity, but also because she, too, had grown the love the girl in the past month. She was a breathe of fresh air in their lives.

"I'll help you." Jay, Carlos, Evie and Doug all told him at the same time.

"Maybe Dude can find out whoever helped Maleficent. Start in Mal and Evie's room and let him track scents." Carlos offered.

"Evie, why weren't you in your room last night?" Fairy Godmother asked her, trying to place everyone.

"I was in Lonnie's room, she was having a sleep-over."

"Who else was there?" Belle asked her.

"Lonnie of course, Jane, Cindy, Jasmina and her sister. Audrey and Mal were invited too but Mal didn't want to cut her evening with Ben and his parents short and Audrey said she felt sick so she stayed in her room." Evie replied truthfully.

"She looked just fine this morning when I saw her making out with Chad." Jay frowned.

"I saw that too, I think she was trying to get my attention or something. She didn't look sick at all." Ben nodded.

"You can't possibly be suggesting that Audrey helped Maleficent inside to school so she could take Mal away!" Belle exclaimed.

"You said it, mom." Ben nodded.

"She never really liked Mal, she's just pretending. I'm sure that Mal being away serves her right. She probably thinks that with Mal away, Ben will go back to dating her." Evie suggested.

"I've also heard that she was worried that because Ben was dating Mal, Mal would be elected Homecoming queen and take the crown from her." Doug added.

"After the time it took me to get rid of her, she thinks I'd go back to her? She's crazy." Ben shook his head.

"We can't just accuse her without proof." Beast shook his head.

"Come on then, I have an idea." Carols exclaimed and they all followed him to Mal's room.

There he let only Dude in and asked him to try and smell for someone that wasn't already there. Quickly the dog seemed to have found something and rushed out of the room and through the corridors.

"This isn't the way to Audrey's room." Fairy Godmother shook her head.

"Every road leads to Rome. Some are just longer." Jay replied.

"Especially when you're trying to avoid being seen by guards or other students." Beast agreed.

"I really hope we fine her soon though. As bad as our own parents were, Mal's mom is the worst. She can be very cruel to her daughter..." Evie stated.

"What do you mean?" Ben asked, surprised.

"I know, she told me." Belle replied.

"She did?" Evie asked, surprised while ignoring Ben.

"When I took her with me for some tea so we could bond a couple of weeks ago, I managed to make her understand that I was there if she ever needed a mother's opinion, that since she was Ben's soul mate, she's family now, that we're here for her too and she opened up. I'm not sure she told me everything but what little she told me is enough to want Maleficent caught quickly. No child should have to go through that." Belle explained.

"What did she tell you? What did Maleficent do to her?" Ben asked, curious.

He was wondering why she hadn't told him but figured that she must have had her reasons. At least she told his mother, she opened up to someone.

"Let's just say that Maleficent doesn't need magic to hurt someone without leaving a visible trace." Evie replied, which only made Ben's worry grow.

After about 15 minutes of running up and down the stairs and through the corridors, Dude finally stopped in front of Audrey's bedroom. Without thinking twice, Beast rose his fist and knocked on the door. He, too, wanted Mal found. He and Belle had gotten to know and love the girl. They knew how important she was to their son. It was rare to find your soul mate so early in life but Ben had and they knew that if they didn't find Mal in time to save her, Ben would never be the same again.

* * *

Mal woke up in a dark tower. She was laid on a dirty blanket on the floor and the only window was high up and had bars so strong she wouldn't be able to break them. The room was very small and she decided that it was most likely a cell. The only door was wooden and it looked like it was protected by magic so that nobody would be able to open it. According to what little she could see from the window, she was high up.

There was absolutely nothing in the room except for this dusty and dirty blanket and Mal quickly checked her pocket. She still had the glowing love stone in her pocket. Apparently, her mother hadn't thought of checking them. Besides that she didn't have much. A broken pencil that needed to be sharpened, a couple of candies, a tissue with Ben's monogram on it. She also still had his ring on her finger and, not wanting her mother to steal it from her, she quickly took it off, wrapped it in his tissue and hide it in one of her inside pockets, a different one that the glowing love rock. She really hoped that her mother wouldn't look for them. She needed them, she needed to hold on to them until Ben rescued her, because she knew that he was coming for her.

"Ah, finally awake, are you?" Maleficent stated after suddenly opening the door.

"Let me go, mother. Please." Mal begged.

"I can't sweetie. See, you misbehaved, you betrayed your own mother and you did the right thing. You acted exactly how I taught you not to act time and time again and so you need to be punished. You need to understand the error of your ways and you need to forget about that boy. You're not leaving this room until you're finally ready to be called Maleficent."

"I don't want to be called Maleficent, Mother!" Mal exclaimed.

"That's only the poison of love talking here, don't worry, mommy will take care of it." The evil witch replied before she used a burning spell on her daughter so she'd feel like she was being burned while she actually wasn't.

"Please, let me go." Mal begged once the pain was over.

She had tears in her eyes and wasn't ashamed by it. Ben had taught her that she was allowed to cry, that it was okay and only human to do so.

"You have to trust that I know what's best for you little Mal. I'm your mother and mothers know best." Maleficent smiled.

"I just want to be happy with Ben and to be good, please, mother, you have to understand..." Mal started but was cut by her mother singing (AN: Mother knows best from tangled only I've changed the lyrics a bit):

 **You want to go back on their side**  
 **Oh**  
 **Why, Mal, why?**

Was it really necessary for Mal to state why she wanted to go back to Auradon and to her Love? Her mother probably wouldn't listen to her anyway. Nobody tried to hurt her in Auradon, well beside Audrey. She felt safe and happy there. People cared about what she wanted and what she loved, her mother didn't and never had.

 **Look at you, as weak as a flower**  
 **Still a little sapling, just a sprout**  
 **You know why we are up in this tower**

"Please mother, I want to be with Ben. He makes me happy, I just want to be happy." She tried to plead.

She didn't want a song, she wanted her mother to see reason and let her go to be happy.

 **That's right, to get you back on tracks, dear**

Mal knew that she'd have to be very strong to prevent her mother from winning, she'd have to concentrate on her love for Ben and for her friends until the evil woman stopped.

 **Guess I always knew this day was coming**  
 **Knew that soon you'd want to do what's best.**

If she knew that it was coming, then why was she so surprised by it, Mal wondered. Did it have anything to do with her father, this man she knew nothing about? Was it possible that her father was actually a good guy? Was he still alive and did he know about her?

 **Be evil, forget the rest!**

"But..." Another protest cut short. It seemed to be the story of her life.

 **Shh, trust me, _pest_**  
 **Mother knows best**

Mal could feel that her mother was trying to use her persuasion power on her but she was stronger now and as long as she concentrated on her love, she knew that she'd be able to resist. Well, it did take a lot out of her. She really hoped that the rescue would come soon because she wouldn't be able to hold on against her mother for more than a few days.

 **Mother knows best**  
 **Listen to your mother**  
 **It's too good of a world out there**

"Not good enough when you're in it." Mal snapped before her mother threw a wave of painful magic her way to punish her for speaking out of turn.

 **Mother knows best**  
 **One way or another**  
 **I'll get you to do wrong, I swear**

 **Ruffians, thugs**  
 **Poison ivy, quicksand**  
 **Cannibals and snakes, the plague**

"Never! I won't do it."

 **Yes**

"But..."

 **Also large bugs**  
 **Men with pointy teeth and**  
 **That, and more, you'll do it all for me**

"I doubt it." Mal replied, decided to stand up to her mother as long as she could.

 **Mother's right here**  
 **Mother is here to fix you**  
 **Darling, here's what I suggest:**

 **Skip the drama**  
 **Stay with mama**  
 **Mother knows best**

 **Go ahead, fall in love with a prince that wants to be good**  
 **Go ahead, do good and betray your own blood**  
 **Me, I'm just your mother, what do I know?**  
 **I only bathed and changed and nursed you**

Mal couldn't remember a time of her life when her mother was sweet and soft with her. Did she really ever change her daughter's diapers or did she have one of her minions do it for her? Did she ever love her daughter or was Mal just a tool to help her grab power?

 **Go ahead and Try to fight me, I want to see it**  
 **Try to stop me here, be my guest**  
 **Before it's too late, you'll see, just wait**  
 **Mother knows best**

 **Mother knows best**  
 **Take it from your mumsy**  
 **If you fight me, you won't survive**

Here it was, the real threat. If she resisted for too long, if Ben and her friends took too long to come to her rescue, her mother would kill her rather than let her go to the one she loved and let her be good. It wasn't only her heart and her sanity on the line, it was her very life that she could lose in this awful place.

 **Sloppy, wrongly-dressed**  
 **Immature, clumsy**  
 **Please, I'll eat you up alive**

 **Gullible, naive**  
 **Positively grubby**  
 **Ditzy and a bit, well, hmm, vague**

 **Plus, I believe**  
 **Gettin' kinda chubby**  
 **I'm just saying 'cause I Know you**

Mal snorted, now her mother was just being a drama queen. Chubby? She knew that she wasn't. She closed her eyes and concentrated on Ben telling her how perfect she was and smiled through the pain her mother was inflicting her.

 **Mother understands**  
 **Mother's here to help you**

"Help me? I doubt it. If you wanted to help me, you'd let me go." Mal snapped.

 **All I have is one request**

 **Mal?**

"Yes?" she replied, knowing her pain would get worst if she ignored her crazy mother.

 **Don't ever try to betray your mother again**

"Oh, you can bet I will."

 **Oh, I have so many plans for you, dear**

"I don't want to execute these plans. What about what I want?"

 **I'll get you to see it right**

 **Don't forget it**  
 **You'll regret it**  
 **Mother knows best**

After these words, Maleficent sent a magical electric shock to her daughter before she left the room. Her words had hurt her daughter but the pain would work better, she knew it. She'd get her daughter to forget about her love and her hopes. Without hope, she'd be easily swayed back into the dark side of this world and she'd be even better than her own mother. Maleficent always knew that her daughter had the potential to be an even greater and more powerful villain than her, it was in her. She didn't only have her mother's magic but also her fathers. Sadly, her father's will to do good had apparently survived in Mal and she needed to stop this, to kill it before it grew too large to be stopped.

* * *

Back in Auradon, Audrey was in Fairy Godmother's office, being questioned. She knew that there was magic in the room that would show everyone that she was lying so she had simply refused to answer anything. Being found out so soon after executing her plan was humiliating.

"Why did you do it Audrey? Mal never did anything against you." Evie shook her head.

"She took my boyfriend! Ben was mine!" Audrey snapped, speaking for the first time and surprising Belle, the Beast and Fairy godmother.

"I was never yours Audrey. I was trying to break up with you for weeks before Mal arrived, you just never let me speak long enough to say it and when I did say it, you ignored it or changed the subject." Ben replied cruelly, wanting to hurt the girl who, he knew it, was causing Mal pain right now.

"I was supposed to become your queen, I was perfect for this role, not _her_." Audrey snapped back just as her parents arrived in the room.

"What did you do, Audrey? We know you had a part to play in what happened to Mal. You better tell us now." Fairy Godmother demanded while Belle explained the situation to Princess Aurora and her husband.

"Just answer their questions, Audrey." Her father asked in a deep and angry voice.

"I contacted Maleficent and told her that if she wanted to take her daughter away, I'd help her. She snuck in the school by hiding in the box that delivered my perfect and pretty homecoming dress." Audrey ended up admitting after meeting her parent's disappointed gaze.

"How could you do this?" Aurora asked while Ben looked even angrier.

To calm himself, he took out his half the glowing stone and felt reassured by the fact that it was still glowing.

Audrey then admitted how jealous she was of Mal and how much she hated her for even coming here and changing everything. She ended up telling them how Maleficent had spelled all the guards one by one with her and how she had left Mal with her mother to go and get some sleep.

"If anything happens to Mal, if we can't find her on time, I swear Audrey you'll spend the rest of your life on the Isle of the Lost. Until then I don't want to see you." Ben announced in a dangerously calm voice.

"What? Why? Please..." Audrey started to beg but was cut of by her father.

"Just shut it Audrey! You've done enough. You'll be locked in your bedroom without being able to see any of your friends, without internet, without phones and without TV. You'll have only selected books to read and you won't see anyone until Mal is found." Audrey's father snapped.

"What else can you tell us to help us find her?" Fairy Godmother asked the scared girl while Belle and the Beast tried to calm their son.

"Nothing, I didn't ask her any details because I didn't want to risk being forced to reveal where she was so she could be rescued. All I know is that Maleficent is planning on killing Mal's love for Ben and her friends." Audrey replied reluctantly before her parents took her away.

"Hey, where did Doug go?" Carlos asked.

"He went to call his father and his uncles to see if they have seen or heard something. The dwarfs have many contacts everywhere and he wanted to see if they could help." Evie replied in a small voice.

"Good. We'll need all the help we can get." Ben replied, taking the rock out once more.

"What will happen if Maleficent manages to kill Mal's love? Will it show on the rock?" Jay asked.

"It will stop glowing. You see the small red dots here? It shows that Mal is in pain, emotionally and mentally. it kills me that I can't help her." Ben admitted.

"Don't worry son, Mal is family, son. We'll find her." Beast promised his son.

He had already called his best warriors and investigators for help.

.

"Any news?" Ben asked for the 5th time in 30 minutes.

"Some of the people we've interrogated think they saw someone wearing a hood and carrying someone go to the dark haunted woods. We think it's Maleficent." Beast informed his son.

"Great, let's go then." Jay immediately suggested.

"It's not that easy, these woods are dangerous and without magic, I doubts anyone would make it out or even find his way inside." Beast shook his head.

"I don't care, I need to find Mal, I'm going." Ben decided.

"I won't stop you, son, I know how important this is for you but at least take some of the men with you." Beast insisted, knowing that arguing with his son was pointless.

"Okay, select them. We'll prepare ourselves and leave tomorrow at first light." Ben nodded, knowing that Carlos, Jay and Evie would want to go with them.

Of course word of what happened to Audrey and Mal had spread like wild fire around school and everyone knew what was going on. Surprisingly enough, everyone was supportive of Ben's quest and a few of the students with magic offered to enchant objects to help them along the way. One gave Ben an enchanted Compass so he could find his way in the dark haunted forest, another enchanted trinkets to keep the ghosts and dark spirits away from them while they crossed the forest. Of course Evie packed her mother's magic mirror, it would be able to show them the way too.

"You guys don't have to stay with me tonight you know, I'll be fine on my own." Ben told them as Evie, Jay, Carlos, Dude and Doug settled in his room for the night.

"We know that, but you're not on your own." Evie smiled.

"We stick together. We work together and we find her together." Jay added, making Ben smile as he hugged his half of the glowing rock closer to his chest.

* * *

Mal was in pain and tired and she could see through the window that it was already night. It had been two days since she had woken up in this horrible place, two days of horror.

How long had she been asleep before her mother allowed her to wake up? Where was Ben? Did he know where to look for her yet? Her mother had refused to tell her where she was or how long they had been there for. All she could hope was that Ben and her friends would find her soon.

"You better sleep well Mal, tomorrow will be a long and hard day for you." Her mother said from the other side of the door.

Sighting, Mal looked back out of the window. She knew that it had been at least two days because she had woken up there 2 days ago but how long passed before she woke up? She hoped Audrey would get remorse and tell everyone what she did, getting them on their way to rescue her sooner.

It would be easy for her to lose hope so Mal concentrated on Ben, on the way he always looked at her, on his smile and his laughter. Facing the window, she took his ring out and placed it back on her finger while she looked at her half of the glowing rock. It had hints of blue in it now and she knew that it meant Ben was worried for her.

(AN: the song is My heart will go on, from Titanic. Again, I might change some lyrics)

Closing her eyes, and imagining Ben's face in front of her, Mal started to sing:

 **Every night in my dreams**  
 **I see you, I feel you**  
 **That is how I know you go on**

For once in her life she had faith in someone, she knew that he'd come and look for her. She knew he wouldn't give up, that he'd go on until he found her and brought her back home. She could still feel his love in her.

 **Far across the distance**  
 **And spaces between us**  
 **You have come to show you go on**

She didn't know how far he was from her but she knew that, just like her, he was thinking about her and trying to find her.

What Mal didn't know was that Ben, from the camp he had settle with his rescue team, couldn't sleep either so he was looking at the same stars she was watching, thinking about her, hoping she was looking at them as well and that she would be strong enough to hold on until he found her.

 **Near, far, wherever you are**  
 **I believe that the heart does go on**

She just couldn't stop believing in him, in their love. Falling back into her mother's footsteps would be easy but it wouldn't make her happy. She wouldn't be living, she'd just be existing.

 **Once more you open the door**  
 **And you're here in my heart**  
 **And my heart will go on and on**

This was a promise to herself. She had let Ben in and she wouldn't lock him out. He was in her heart and no matter what he mother told her, she knew that it didn't make her weak, it made her stronger.

 **Love can touch us one time**  
 **And last for a lifetime**  
 **And never let go till we're gone**

Could it really last this long though? Was her love for Ben strong enough to survive the terrible torture her mother put her through every minute of everyday. Already, holding on to his face and voice was getting hard when her mother was hurting her, one way or another.

 **Love was when I loved you**  
 **One true time I hold to**  
 **In my life we'll always go on**

It was easier now, with her mother away, to hold on to his love. Mal had almost given up today but she couldn't. She couldn't let her mother win this quickly. She had to fight, to hold on. He'd come for her.

 **Near, far, wherever you are**

From where he sat in his camp, Ben couldn't calm his mind long enough to sleep. He looked around him and envied Evie and the others for being able to sleep. He could barely rest a couple of hours a night since he had discovered that Mal had been taken. He was glad his father had let him go though, he couldn't even imagine how he would have handled things if he had been obligated to stay in school.

"Can't sleep?" Jay asked him.

"No, I'm too worried about her for that. You?" Ben asked him back.

"I just need to pee." Jay smiled, getting up and making Ben chuckle.

He knew that although Jay was keeping a brave facade, he was worried for Mal too. She was like a sister to him, she was the leader of their little group of friend and they all loved her, they all needed her.

 **I believe that the heart does go on**  
 **Once more you open the door**  
 **And you're here in my heart**  
 **And my heart will go on and on**

In her dark cell, all Mal had to hold on to was Ben's ring and her half of the glowing rock. She hoped that by holding it tightly enough it would send him some sort of message but she didn't know how to do it. All she could do was keep him tightly locked in her heart and believe that their love would be stronger than anything her mother could throw at her.

 **You're here, there's nothing I fear**

Suddenly it was like she was looking at him, like he was looking right at her. Ben was sitting next to a camp fire and her friends, among other people, where lying around him. What she didn't know was that he, too, could see her. He guessed that it was simply one of his visions but quickly enough, he understood that she could see him too.

"I love you." She assured him.

"I'm on my way Mal, I'll find you. I love you too." He promised her in return.

She smiled at him before the vision dissipated in the air.

 **And I know that my heart will go on**

Mal knew that it had been real and it fueled her fire. He was coming for her. he was on his way, with help and she'd be fine. She just had to hold on for a little while.

 **We'll stay forever this way**  
 **You are safe in my heart**  
 **And my heart will go on and on**

Feeling the need to rest, Mal placed the glowing rock back in one of her inside pockets before she laid down on the floor, refusing the use the blanket she suspected of being infested with bugs. She didn't realize that she had forgotten to take off Ben's ring.

.

The next morning, Maleficent woke up early and went to wake up her daughter, only to notice the golden ring around her finger. She didn't know how her daughter had kept this hidden from her but it angered her to no end. She would take it and destroy it in front of her very eyes. She'd watch her love's ring being destroyed and, soon after, her own love for the young king would die as well.

"Up! How dare you wear that thing here? You're more far gone than I thought, child. I think I need to take this." Maleficent yelled, waking Mal up with a start.

While her mother attracted her beloved ring to her, Mal fought with every bit of magic she had to keep it with her and, eventually, managed to keep it. Before her mother could do anything else, Mal threw it out the window, hoping Ben would find it and give it back to her later. Better that than whatever her mother would have done to it.

"You think you're so smart, do you?" Maleficent smirked before she added "I think we'll have to level up today."

Mal knew that today would be much harder than the previous 2 days. She was exhausted, hungry and scared.

* * *

Ben and his rescue mission were getting closer to Mal's location with each step they took.

"According to the mirror we need to go left now." Evie informed him.

"The enchanted compass points to the right." A soldier Beast had recommended argued.

"It's filled with dark magic around here. The compass was enchanted with white magic. Evie's mirror is dark magic. I think only dark magic works well around here." Doug argued.

"Makes sense." The soldier nodded.

"Let's follow the mirror then." Ben decided, trusting Evie, especially when it came to Mal, her best friend.

"Did you see her again?" Carlos asked Ben, knowing that their friend had seen Mal a couple of nights ago.

"No, nothing. The rock stills glows though. Maybe it's the dark magic here that prevents me to see her. I just want to hurry and find her as soon as possible. Who knows what her mother is putting her through." Ben shook his head.

"I think she's going through hell." Carlos whispered.

"She's strong. She'll get through it and be fine when we find her." Jay declared, trying to convince himself more than the others.

"We'll help her." Ben added before they went back to making their way toward Mal.

They walked for the rest of the day until the mirror showed them that they were close.

"I think we're almost there. We should try to be discreet now. Look for anything that could be a lair." Ben advised and they all went on their separate ways to explore their surroundings.

They planned to meet up in 15 minutes.

"Your highness, I think I found it. There's an old tower over there. It seems to be protected by magic but we should be able to break through it with what we brought with us." One of the soldiers informed them.

"Good, let's go and check it out." Ben nodded.

They found themselves hidden in bushes, watching a tower where, Ben could feel it, his love was.

"She's here, I know she is." Ben whispered.

"It's so dark and cold around here..." Evie frowned.

"Question: how are we going to stop Maleficent once we have saved Mal?" Carlos asked.

"The soldiers that came with us have special chains. It'll hold her until we can get her back to the Isle of the Lost." Ben informed him.

* * *

"It's been over five days mother, can't you just give up and let me be happy?" Mal whispered weakly.

She felt like she was about to break. She was tired, hungry and thirsty. All she had was one small piece of hard bread a day and a couple of glasses of water. She also wanted to sleep and to take a shower, or a bath. More than anything, she wanted to be in Ben's arms and back to the safety of Auradon, with her friends.

"You will be happy here with me Mal and when I'm done with you, you'll be the new Maleficent." Her mother replied.

"I don't want to, please mother, I'm tired! It hurts!" Mal managed to scream with everything she had, not knowing that, outside, Ben and her friends had heard her.

"Now, now Mal, you're weak enough as it is, there's no need for you to waste your energy." Maleficent smirked.

Her daughter was about to break, she knew it and as soon as it happened, she'd be able to fix her up the way she wanted her.

"It's too bad really that you can't replace my will for your own. Maybe then you'd manage to be proud of me or even to love me." Mal whispered, unable to speak louder after her scream.

"Now, where would be the fun in that?" Maleficent replied before she sent her daughter another strong wave of pain and turned around and left her daughter alone in the room.

Mal managed to pull herself to the window but she couldn't stand to look out. She didn't even have enough strength to take her half of the glowing stone in her hand. She just wanted to close her eyes and that's what she did. She didn't even think about Ben or her friends, she couldn't. She was too tired to hold on to them. Curling into a ball, she allowed herself to cry as she fell asleep.

* * *

Maleficent was satisfied with the way things were going with her daughter and when she went back downstairs, she opened the front door to enjoy some of the evening fresh air. SHE wasn't confined to the tower, only her daughter was after all. She took a couple of steps and, suddenly, she felt something heavy and cold coming around her waist.

"Chains!" She exclaimed, powerless to do anything against the enchanted chains.

"Where's Mal?" Ben asked at her in a tone that didn't hide his anger.

"You're too late, she forgot all about you." Maleficent lied.

"I know you're lying, see this rock: as long as it's glowing, Mal loves me as much as I love her. Now tell us where she is or you'll suffer." Ben snapped.

"I won't say a thing." She smirked.

"Let's go and look inside." Evie suggested.

4 soldiers stayed to keep an eye on Maleficent and to tie her up some more while the others went inside the surprisingly large tower. Before he stepped inside, Ben saw something, a small gold thing was shinning on the floor, near the tower. He only saw it because it reflected with their torches. He went to see what it was and found out that it was his ring, the one he had given Mal. Glaring at Maleficent, he placed it in his pocket, planning to give it back to his love as soon as possible.

"Up or down?" Jay asked.

"Up, she could see the stars." Ben replied, leading the way up the stairs, even though the soldiers were supposed to go before him.

"Mal? Where are you? Mal?" Ben started calling out.

.

Mal woke up from her exhausted sleep, not knowing why since it looked like she hadn't slept much.

"Mal?" She heard.

It seemed to be Ben's voice but how could she know that it really was his voice and not one of her mother's cruel illusions?

"Mal, it's me. Where are you? Your mother is chained up downstairs, you're safe." Ben called again and this time, she knew that she could trust the voice, it was him.

Unable to call back out to him, she went to the door and, with her fist, hit it a couple of time. She wasn't strong enough for much more right now.

She heard noise growing louder behind the door and moved to the side.

"I'll break it your Highness." A deep voice she didn't know said before she heard more hitting and the noise of wood crashing.

Wasn't the door spelled? How could they break it? But then Mal figured that if they had her mother incapacitated in chains, her spells on this place would be ineffective.

"Mal! Oh Mal, I'm here." Ben exclaimed as soon as he saw her.

"You made it." She whispered.

"Of course I did, love. You're safe now. I'm here. Come one, let's get you out of here."

Knowing that things would be fine now, Mal closed her eyes. Before she fell asleep, she heard the deep voice offering to carry her and Ben refusing. Before he lifted her, she felt him placing something around her finger and she just knew that it was his ring. He had found it, he had found her, he had saved her.

* * *

Mal wasn't very aware for the next couple of days. She knew that she was in Ben's arms and that her friends were with him. She also knew that they were taking her back home. She understood that she was sleeping so her body and mind could heal, that she'd need to rest for a while. She had managed to wake up in time to eat every once in a while.

The soldiers were keeping Maleficent tied up and as far away from Ben as they could. The young King had made it clear that he didn't want to see her so, as soon as they could, a group of 5 soldiers separated from them to lead her straight to the Isle of the Lost while the teenagers were being escorted by the last 2 soldiers back to the palace of Belle and the Beast.

Mal felt it the moment they had arrived. Ben kept on carrying her and she was suddenly place in a soft bed that smelled like him.

"Poor child, how is she?" Belle asked as soon as she saw Mal.

"I think she needs rest but it'll be best to call a doctor." He replied worriedly.

"Of course. Why don't you and your other friends go to take a shower and change? I'll help Mal into a bath to clean her up, give her a change of clothes before the doctor gets here. I promise I'll take good care of her." Belle suggested.

"Fine. Thanks mom." Ben nodded.

Belle called a couple of maids who helped her and Mal woke up fully once she was in the wonderfully scented water of the warm bubble bath Bella a prepared for her.

"Thank you." Mal whispered, feeling like she still wasn't able to speak louder.

"It's nothing, dear. This is Ben's bathroom, so I'm sorry to say this is the only scent of bubble I can give you." Belle apologized, feeling like it would have been better to give Mal more relaxing scents like Lavenders.

"Don't be sorry, it smells like Ben." Mal smiled.

"I know it's not easy Mal, but just know that if you want to talk about it, about what your mother did to you, I'm here. Always." Belle told the girl her son loved.

"I don't think I'm ready yet... I... She's... Why can't she love me?" Mal asked Belle, breaking into tears before Belle pulled her into her arms.

"I don't know why Mal but I promise you, it has absolutely nothing to do with you. Any mother would be proud to have you for a daughter. You're might not be my daughter biologically but let's face it, you are part of our family now and will be forever because of your link with Ben and I am proud of you. You're strong, beautiful, smart, nice... You're mother is an idiot for not seeing just how perfect you are." Belle told her.

"Thank you." Mal whispered.

"Now, let's clean you up before the doctor comes to check you up."

.

The doctor came and after giving Mal a few vitamins and advising her a lot of rest and three good meals a day, she was able to see her friends and to thank them for having rescued her.

"What about Audrey?" She asked Ben.

"If it was up to me she'd be sent to the Isle of the Lost but my parents think I might be a bit too harsh in my judgement because it was you she hurt. I've decided to let them decided but I don't think she'll come back to school, not anytime soon anyway. Her parents are very angry with her, especially for working with Maleficent. She won't get to do anything enjoyable for a while." Ben replied.

Mal spent about an hour with her friends before they were driven back to school and she found herself alone with Ben.

"I should go too and let you rest." He told her, not making any move to get up from his sitting position by her side.

"Please stay. I feel better with you here." She begged him.

"Are you sure?" He asked her and she nodded:

"I'm safe when you're here."

With a smile, Ben moved closer to her on his bed and let her lay her head on his chest while he wrapped his arms around her.

"I'll always find you Mal. I promise I'll do my best to make you happy." He whispered in her ear.

"I am happy. When I'm with you, I'm happy." She whispered back before she fell asleep.

* * *

 **So, it was supposed to be short, with the Titanic song but then I built all of this around it for it to make sense.**

 **I hope you liked it. Personally, I couldn't do anything else until I got it out of my head.**

 **Review please?**

 **Lorelei Candice Black**


	2. Chapter 2

_**A mother's revenge**_

 _ **2**_

 _So many of you asked for another chapter, here it is._

* * *

Mal had been back at Auradon prep for about a week when Ben asked her for the first time if she wanted to talk about what had happened to her while her mother had her prisoner in that tower. He hadn't asked her earlier because he could tell that she wasn't ready but now he could tell that it still bothered her, he understood that, when she went off in her head and grew suddenly sad, it was because she was thinking about what her mother had done to her and he wanted nothing more than to help her get over it.

"I... I don't know if I can, Ben. It's not the kind of story you just share around a campfire on a warm summer night while grilling marshmallows." She shook her head.

"I know it's not going to be a happy and cheerful story Mal, but I still want to hear it, to know what you went through and to help you through it." he insisted.

"I don't want to burden you with this Ben. It's... dark. I'll be fine." Mal replied.

"Mal, you're not fine, I can see it and you could never burden me. I love you, I want to be able to help you through this." He assured her.

"You wouldn't happen to have talked with Evie, have you?" She asked him.

"No, not about this, why?" He asked her, confused.

"She told me pretty much the same thing this morning."

"We all want to help you Mal, you're not alone, you just need to let us know how we can help you." Ben replied, hugging his girlfriend close to him, something he had been doing more since finding her.

"Maybe I should tell you guys... It might help with the nightmares." Mal suggested.

"Are they bad?" He asked her.

"I'm getting used to it." She shrugged her shoulders.

"You shouldn't have to." Ben frowned.

"I... I don't know if I can tell you about it... It might be too hard to say..." Mal told him honestly.

"I know that you talked with my mom before coming back to school, did you manage to tell her at all?" He asked her.

"Not really. She gave me her phone number in case I want to talk to her, and I know she's sincere and really wants me to open up to her, and I want to open up to her, I really do. But I know that if I tell her, I'd have to tell you, and Evie, and Jay and Carlos and I don't want to have to go through it several more times..." Mal confessed.

"You don't have to go through this several times Mal, we could all be there at the same time if you want. Or you could just tell my mother and she can tell us later... Anything you want, as long as it helps making you feel better." Ben suggested.

"I think I should get this over with and tell it to everyone at the same time." Mal decided after thinking about it a few seconds.

"As you wish." Ben whispered in her ear, keeping her in his arms, knowing that she felt better there.

.

"The cell was cold. I think she spelled it so that it was colder than it should naturally be. She fed me a little piece of hard bread a day and two glasses of water. One in the morning, one in the evening. I think she slipped potions in my morning glass of water sometimes to help her get in my head more easily. The only thing in my cell was an old blanket. It was dirty, dusty and I think that I would have been cleaner if I had bathed in Auradon Pep's trash. I tried not to use it because it made me itchy and I hated feeling the need to scratch myself all night long but it was so cold that I didn't have a choice most of the time. " Mal told the room.

They were in the Beast's castle, in the large library with Belle, Beast, Ben, Fairy Godmother, Jay, Carlos and Evie. The usually warm and welcoming Library suddenly looked much darker to Mal, as if she was back in her mother's tower, just by talking about it. Dude was sleeping in front of the fire place and Mal was sitting in front of them, feeling like it would be easier to tell her tale if Ben wasn't by her side, even though he wanted to be there for her, to hug her through it. As a punishment, Audrey was also listening to Mal's confession, through a magic mirror. They wanted her to know of the pain and suffering she had caused.

"I had taken Ben's ring off and hidden it in one of my inside pockets, I didn't want my mother to take it from me but one night I put it on and fell asleep forgetting to take it off again. My mother woke me up furious and took it from me. I used everything I had to get it back and, knowing that she'd destroy it, I threw it out the window to protect it from her fire. I knew she'd destroy it in front of me, or she'd use it to hurt me one way or another, I couldn't let her do it." She added.

"I figured as much when I found it on the ground outside before we found you." Ben smiled.

"At first she only used physical pain, spells that gave me the illusion of being burned alive or of being whipped. I held on, concentrating on the fact that I knew Ben and my friends were coming to save me, that I just had to have faith and be patient. It wasn't always easy though. The pain, the lack of food and sleep... I was exhausted and couldn't really rest. I honestly think that I was about to break when I heard Ben's voice calling my name. One more day and they would have been too late. It was just too much for me to handle." Mal admitted, crying.

"Hey, it would have never been too late. When it's meant to be, it can always be fixed." Ben told her after he rushed to kneel in front of her.

He quickly kissed her cheek and hugged her. Since she didn't look like she wanted to let go, he sat by her side, finally where he wanted to be.

"I tried to keep faith that rescue was coming, to concentrate on _Love_ but it wasn't easy... A couple of times, my mother made me think that Ben was right in front of me and... The illusion of Ben looked so real and said things so cruel... I tried not to believe it, to keep in mind that the real Ben would never say these things but when Ben really came, it took me a few minutes to actually trust that it was him and not another illusion. My last doubts about the reality of it all vanished when we arrived here."

"Maleficent really is the cruelest of them all." Fairy godmother shook her head.

"There's a reason she's had the power on the Isle of the Lost for so long." Jay commented.

"She was being nice one minute, faking being compassionate and immediately after she'd hurt me, reminding me that it was my own fault for falling in love with the son of her enemies to begin with. She repeated over and over again that I needed to be her true heir, that I had the potential to be an even greater Queen of darkness that she was. Her words, not mine. She kept bringing up the fact that when I was 6, Evie invited everyone to her birthday party and not me, that I was sad and angry at the time and that I should go back to these emotions, that I had no reasons to be friends with her now... At some point she talked of a vision she had had when she was pregnant with me, that I'd be powerful and capable to great things. When I resisted too much or told her that I wanted to be good and with Ben, she grew angry and repeated that I was just my father's daughter, that she should have known that choosing him for the powerful genes he'd give me wasn't worth the trouble, that she should have gone with the Red Queen's husband, who apparently was more than willing, and be done with it." Mal informed them.

"Do you know anything about your father?" Fairy Godmother asked Mal.

"All I knew before this was that he was a man who wasn't on the Isle of the Lost. I didn't know if he was dead or if it was something else. Now I know that he was a good man and that my mother changed her appearance to win him over, pretended to be someone else. I think he's a bit younger than she was because I remember her making a comment about it a while back." Mal replied.

"We could try to find out who he is if you want." Belle offered.

"I don't know if it would be worth it. He doesn't know that I exist and he might already have a family. Learning of my existence would only ruin his life." Mal shook her head.

"Maybe he'd be happy to find out about you. I know that I'd be proud to learn that you were my daughter. I mean, if you weren't already my son's soul mate." Beast replied with a kind and reassuring smile.

"I'm also Maleficent's daughter. That fact only could ruin a marriage and my father, whoever he is, doesn't deserve it. Plus, I don't know how you could look for him. It's not like you can compare my DNA with the one of every grown man in the land. He might not even be alive anymore." Mal shook her head.

Everyone nodded but Belle looked at Beast and knew that he agreed with her: they'd look for him and, once they knew who he was, they'd decide if they informed him of Mal's existence or not.

"How did you keep track of time?" Evie asked Mal.

"I... I didn't even know how long I was her prisoner for. When I woke up, it was the end of a day but I didn't know how long she had kept me asleep for." Mal added, feeling like she needed to share it.

"Did anyone else every join you two?" Beast asked her, trying to find out if he needed to send his soldiers to look for someone else.

"I don't think so, no one that was real at least. But now that I think of it, my mother said something weird... I think that this tower is where I was conceived."

"But it doesn't make sense, your mother was locked on the Isle of the Lost for 20 years, you're only 16." Evie shook her head.

"I know, but there is a spell in her book, written in her own handwriting, to freeze a pregnancy in time. She could have used it and waited for the moment she saw in her visions as best to release it. Even if there was no magic on the Isle of the Lost, with the way it was designed, she could have done it." Mal replied, taking the spell book out and showing it to them.

"If that's the case I hope it was cleaner 20 years ago." Carlos frowned, making Fairy Godmother and Belle turn to look at him.

"She thought that it was the best place to turn me back into who she wanted me to be: **the next Maleficent** , because this is where I was created, where the idea of my existence came to her. Where she had a vision of my future powers. She kept saying that I was supposed to be a new and improve Maleficent." Mal added.

"I think you're definitely a better person than your mother was." Fairy Godmother smiled.

"I think she meant improved in the evil department." Mal replied with a frown.

"Wait, does that mean that your father has powers too? There can't me that many middle aged men with magical powers." Evie asked.

"Just drop it Evie, it's not worth it. I don't want to start hoping only to realize that it would be best if I stayed out of his life." Mal shook her head.

"You are allowed to have things in your life that make you happy Mal, you shouldn't have to sacrifice everything for the greater good." Ben told her.

"I don't. I have you and my friends. That's enough for me." She replied.

"Is there anything else you'd like to share with us Mal?" Belle asked her kindly and Mal nodded.

It was easier than she thought to tell them all everything that had happened to her.

"At some point, my mother made me think that I managed to escape, only to arrive here and realize that 20 years had passed and that everyone had forgotten me and that nobody had looked for me. That was the hardest of all. I only managed to break through it because in the vision Ben had his ring on his finger and I knew that the ring was still in my pocket. Of course she didn't know that at the time..." Mal explained, showing clearly that this particular illusion had hurt her a lot more than the rest.

"It couldn't be real, I could never forget about you and I will always look for you." Ben whispered in her ear, making her smile through the tears.

"She kept on saying what a disappointment I was to her, repeating over and over again every single thing I did in my life to disappoint her. Talking out of turn, being nice to an old lady down the street, refusing to hurt someone... Every fact was punctuated with pain. I was exhausted when the rescue arrived. I think the reason you caught her was because she was overly confident, she knew that I was about to break, that she was about to get what she wanted. Only a few hours later would have been too late." Mal confessed.

"What about your nightmares, what are they about?" Jay asked her.

"My mother breaking out and killing Ben in front of me. Something stupid allowing my mother to escape the Isle of the Lost and her coming to destroy the school before she kills everyone and ends with me. Sometimes I'm still in the tower and Ben's rescue was only an illusion created by my mother. In these moments it takes me a few minutes to decide if what I'm living is real of not." Mal admitted.

"How do you know it's real?" Beast asked her.

"In dreams, or illusions created by my mother, I can't read, so I grab a book and try to read. When I can actually read, I'm reassured that it's all real." Mal replied.

"That explains why you've been reading that book about chocolate recipes over and over again for the past week." Evie nodded.

"It's the only book I have that doesn't remind me of my mother and what she put me through." Mal shrugged her shoulders.

"You can borrow any book you want from my personal library honey, really." Belle offered, making Mal smile in return.

"Thank you." Mal nodded.

"I'm sorry we couldn't be there sooner... We should have followed the mirror from the beginning but instead we followed the magical compass and it mislead us once we got in the woods." Ben added.

"It's okay, you came before it was too late. You saved me, that's what's important. I never had someone who wanted to save me before, it's nice to know I have a group of them now." Mal told them all with a grateful smile.

"We'll always be there for you Mal. We're a family." Evie told her before Belle called the maid to bring them some tea, hot chocolate and cookies.

.

"Have you thought about your name issue?" Ben asked Mal later, while he walked her back to her room.

"Not really, I didn't have much time for that, why?" She replied.

"No reason, I was just curious." He smiled.

"Do you have a suggestion?" She asked him, stopping their walk to look at him.

"No, not really. Unless you want Mal to stand for Magnificent, Adorable and Lovable." he joked.

"I'll think about it." She chuckled.

"Mal, I... I hope I didn't make things worst today, by pushing you to share what happened with everyone. I'd hate to be the reason why you have more nightmares." Ben told her sincerely.

"Don't worry Ben, I know that you have my best interests at heart. Talking about it helped." She smiled back at him to reassure him.

"My mother really likes you." He added.

"Is it a bad thing?" She asked him.

"No, not at all. It's great. I'm just surprised. I thought that she'd naturally hate anyone I could be with, because she's my mother and that's how most mothers are. I'm happy that she likes you so much. Even my father. I'm glad they accepted you so fast." he assured her.

"I like them too. They're good parents, and good people." She smiled.

"Do you really want to go back to your room now or do you want to go and sit somewhere?" he asked her suddenly.

"It's still early and it's warm out. Where do you want to go?" She asked him.

"We don't have time to go to the Enchanted Lake before dinner but we could find a nice quiet spot around here." he suggested.

"Sure, I'd love that." She nodded, always happy to be with him.

Eventually, Ben found them a nice spot and he sat down before pulling Mal down with him so she'd be sitting between his legs, her back against his chest.

"This is nice." She sighted.

"Very nice. I love having you in my arms." He replied.

"I'm barely out of your arms lately." She reminded him.

"I know... It's hard for me to let you go after thinking that I might never see you again. I almost lost it." He admitted.

"What do you mean by _Lost it_?" She asked him curiously.

"Became a beast, like my father. It's in me you know. It could always come out, at any time." he replied.

"Well, I'm here and if the beast comes out, I'll just have to kiss you to turn you back into a man." She stated.

"True, but if you had died, if we would have gotten there too late... I would have been a beast forever."

"Maybe you'd have fallen in love with someone else." She suggested.

"I doubt it. No one could ever take your place in my heart Mal, you're hold on it is permanent, like a tattoo." He replied, making her smile.

"Just so you know, your hold on my heart is just as permanent." She reassured him.

"That's what it means to be soul mates." He whispered in her ear.

"And it feels great." She nodded quietly.

"So, I heard that you're one of the favorites for Homecoming Queen." Ben told her.

"I know, Jane told me but I think they're only voting for me because I'm with you and because of what just happened to me. It's not really something I dream about, it's more of a Evie thing. She'd be so happy if she got elected." Mal replied.

"Well, you can always withdraw your name from the ballots and give your votes to her." He suggested.

"I can do that?" Mal asked him.

"Of course." he nodded.

"What if they elect you homecoming king?"

"If you withdraw your name, I'll withdraw mine. The only appeal of being homecoming king is to have you as my queen. If you don't want it, then I can give my votes to Chad or another one of the homecoming princes." he explained.

"It's too bad that Doug isn't one of the princes." Mal whispered.

"I know, he deserves this kind of attention much more than Chad or any of the others do. Maybe they'll vote for him next year." Ben agreed.

"Ben?" Mal asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Yes?"

"I'm scared." She admitted.

"Of what?" He asked her.

"Falling asleep. I'm afraid of the nightmares." She confessed in a small voice that Ben hated hearing because it showed just how hurt she was.

"I wish there was something I could do... Did you have a nightmare on your first night back?" he asked her suddenly.

"The one when you slept by my side?"

"Yes, that one."

"No actually, it was a peaceful night. The first one on a few days, but the last one as well." Mal shook her head.

"Do you think it was because I was by your side?"

"I don't know, maybe. Why? Are you suggesting..."

"Why not? If it helps you sleep... I don't see why we shouldn't try. You can sleep in my room with me or i'll sleep in yours with you. We can try." he suggested.

"Are you sure that we won't get in trouble?" Mal asked him, liking this idea.

"With who? I'm the King, remember?" Ben joked before he kissed the side of her head.

"You should at least warn Fairy Godmother though, we wouldn't want everyone to get worried if they don't find one of us." Mal insisted and Ben nodded.

After a few more minutes in their quiet spot, Ben and Mal slowly made their way inside and instead of going to the dining hall first, they went to Fairy godmother's office.

"Ben, Mal, everything's alright?" She asked as soon as she saw them.

"We wanted to ask permission for something..." Mal started to say but seemed to have a hard time to find the right words.

"Actually we wanted to warn you about something." Ben corrected, making Mal and the fairy smile.

"What is it?" She asked them.

"Well, we realized that the only time Mal didn't have any nightmares was her first night back, when I shared the bed with her. You know, just to hold her. We wanted to try it again to see if it'll work." Ben explained, a small blush growing on his cheek.

"Have you really not slept one peaceful night since you came back, Mal?" Fairy Godmother asked.

"No, not one." Mal shook her head.

"Well, under normal circumstances I wouldn't permit such a thing, especially since you're just 16 but your bond is a deep one. Considering what happened to Mal and the fact that you're soul mates, I don't see how I could forbid it. I think you can both be trusted to be responsible." Fairy Godmother allowed with a smile and let them leave her office.

Mal and Ben, still hand in hand, walked to the dinning hall were they ate their dinner with some of their friends. Once they were done, Mal stopped by her room to grab what she needed before following Ben to his own bedroom. he used to share it with Chad but after his roommate had verbally attacked Mal on family day, they had a big argument and Chad changed rooms. Since Ben was the new king, they chose not to give him a new roommate.

"It's still ab bit early, do you want to watch a movie or something?" he asked her.

"Sure, that'd be nice." She nodded.

She was surprised by how natural it was for her to be in his bedroom, to share a living space with him. It was as if they had been doing it for years.

It's without any surprises that Mal managed to sleep the entire night without having any nightmares about her mother's need for revenge. Once she was in Ben's arms, it was like she was under a protective shield, safe from bad memories and bad dreams. He kept her safe and happy and she hoped that this wouldn't be a one time thing. She slept much better when she was in his arms.

* * *

 **So, are you happy about this unplanned second part? Maybe I'll get inspired for a third part, I don't know.**

 **Thank you for the love you've all shown the first part f this story though. It really was supposed to be a one-short but since you liked it so much...**

 **Review please?**

 **Lorelei Candice Black**


	3. Chapter 3

**_A mother's revenge_**

 ** _Part 3_**

 _It wasn't planned, but the idea was in my head and I had to write it. Especially since so many of you asked for a third part._

* * *

"Mother? What's going on?" Mal asked her mother as she joined her down the stairs of their private tower.

A few months ago, they had been able to escape the Isle of the Lost, leaving everyone else behind. They had found this isolate little tower in the Dark Woods and ever since, mother and daughter had been living happily in there, planning for a way to overthrow the power and rule the kingdom together. Maybe, then, they would free some of the other villains. But before they did any of hat, Maleficent needed to train her daughter to practice magic and help her power grow.

"Nothing Pumpkin, I just thought I saw a dog and thought it might be Cruella but it was just a lone wolf." Maleficent reassured her daughter.

"You don't think anyone else managed to follow us out of the Isle, right?"

"It's possible, but they would be idiots to come here. We're the most powerful ones in the land." The mother replied with a smile.

"I kind of hope that the Evil Queen and her dreadful daughter Evie escaped too so that we can destroy them." Mal smirked evilly.

"I know sweetheart. Refusing to invite you to her 5th birthday party was horrible and showed just how uncivilized that girl is. Her mother didn't raise her right and you'll get your revenge Pumpkin." Maleficent smiled at her daughter.

"I already know how I'll make her suffer."

"How?"

"Let's just say that I won't take the chance of her true love finding her and getting in the way. I'll start by taking her precious beauty away from her and by making sure she has no choice but to see it every second of the day by locking her in a room covered in mirrors. Then I'll make her lose her mind and finally, I'll kill her in front of her mother before I kill her, too." Mal replied.

"I'm so proud of you Pumpkin. Finally, I am proud to say you can have your full name." Maleficent declared before she hugged her daughter.

.

"Mal? Mal, wake up, you're having another nightmare." Ben whispered as he gently shook her awake.

Ever since she had started sleeping with him, Mal hadn't had many nightmares, simply bits and pieces of bad dreams, of her mother trying to worm her way into her head but his presence had always been able to sooth her and bring her back to the land of pretty dreams. Unfortunately, this time, he wasn't able to sooth her or even wake her up.

At first Ben thought that, after a particularly tiring day, Mal was a heavy sleeper but what worried him was that her half of the glowing stone, which usually shone a bright white light right next to his, was now covered in purple stripes. It had to have happened in the past 5 hours since they went to bed because it was still bright white when he turned the lights off. He tried to wake her up for about 15 more minutes before he started to really panic, took his cellphone out and called for help her friends, Fairy Godmother and his own parents.

.

Mal was in the tower, with her mother and she knew, in the back of her mind, that something wasn't right. She wasn't supposed to be here, she was supposed to be somewhere else, doing something else with other people. Her mother wasn't supposed to be by her side, or even free. Deep down, she didn't even want to be called Maleficent like her mother and why did she have to go after Evie like that? She was about to question her mother about it when she spoke:

"Mal, come here Pumpkin, it's time you trained some more."

Immediately, Mal forgot every doubt she had and her mind was clear once more. She didn't even question why she had suddenly forgiven all of her mother's abuses of her childhood.

.

"Her mother has to have something to do with this." Beast spat, wanting this solved soon because he didn't want his son and Mal to suffer any longer.

"I have to agree with you, I can sense great magic around her, powerful dark magic." Fairy godmother nodded.

"I thought she was locked up and couldn't do anything to Mal from there?" Evie asked.

"She probably planed this before we caught her." Jay suggested angrily.

"Can't you undo whatever was done?" Ben pleaded.

"Unfortunately I can't. This is powerful Dark Magic and if it's been growing in her since she was rescued from the tower, it means that it's had over 2 months to grow quietly." The nice fairy shook her head.

"What about True Love's kiss?" Evie asked.

"I tried several times, it didn't work." Ben replied, looking down.

"That's because she's surrounded by the dark magic, it's like an invisible barrier around her. Your lips didn't really touched hers. What worries me is that I can feel that her mind is clouded, I don't know how, but Maleficent somehow planted a seed in her daughter and it's taking her away slowly. I don't know why it didn't show earlier. It's like it was hidden until it was ready to overtake her completely..." Fairy Godmother explained.

"What do you mean?" Beast asked.

"Mal's living in what we could call an unreal world right now where she's with her mother and everything is fine. Somehow, the spell or curse that's on her is hiding from Mal her true feelings for you all and her memories so that it fits what Maleficent wanted when she brought her daughter in the tower. What worries me is that if we wait too long, the changes that are fake in her mind right now might eventually become permanent and irreversible. We'd lose her for good." Fairy Godmother explained as she waved her wand above a sleeping Mal.

"We're losing her?" Ben exclaimed angrily, hint of yellow glowing on his eyes, worrying his father who rushed to hold him, calm him down and show him support.

"Surely there's a way to save her." Evie argued.

"I honestly don't know. We can't get in her mind to reassure her and there is nothing we can do from here. All there is do for now is hope that she's strong enough to remember who she is, who she loves and who she wants to be. I'll go and contact a couple of people who might know more about this kind of curses. Someone should always stay with her." Fairy Godmother declared before she hurried out of Ben's room.

"I'm not leaving her." Ben stated as he placed Mal's half of the glowing rock in her hand, hoping she'd feel it.

"I'll help with the researches." Carlos offered, followed by Doug.

.

Mal was collecting wood for the fire when she felt something warm in the palm of her right hand. She brought it in front of her eyes but couldn't see anything in it, though she could still feel something. With the tip of her fingers from the other hand, she tried touching where she felt the warmth and she was immediately overtaken by images she couldn't connect with anything. Who was this blond guy who confessed his love to her? Why was she smiling next to this horrible Evie? And what was this place she saw herself so happy in?

She could feel like she knew the answers, that this wasn't a vision of the future but a memory of the past. But when could this have happen? Why did she suddenly feel like she was lost and needed to find her way when earlier she had all of her faith and confidence in her mother?

And why did she suddenly feel angry and resentful toward her mother for all of the abuses and punishments she had gotten during her childhood? She felt fine earlier. Just 15 minutes ago she understood why her mother had done it and like it was only natural but now... She wasn't so sure.

"Are you coming Mal?" Her mother's voice called her and immediately, Mal's mind was clouded again and she was forced away from these troubled thoughts.

Her mother's voice had restored her confidence in the older woman and suddenly, she was once more willing to give her life to her mother if necessary.

.

"Did you see that?" Carlos asked, pointing at the rock in Mal's hand.

"Yes, it looks like a couple of purple stripes dissipated before they came back even thicker." Ben growled.

"Don't worry son, we'll find a solution." Belle told her son before she and her husband hugged him and left to tend to the kingdom and see if they could help Fairy Godmother finding an answer.

Belle also wanted to hurry her search for Mal's father. If he really was powerful, he'd probably be able to do something to help his daughter, especially since her own mother did this to her. So far, every clue she had gathered pointed to Lance, Merlin's grandson who was just as powerful as his late grandfather had been and who was a few years younger than Maleficent was. Every sign pointed to him.

There had been only 6 candidates to begin with and he was the only one who had been in the right area at the right time. He had never married and lived away from town, in a small village where he didn't have to get involved in the kingdom's affairs. She had planned to approach him slowly but now, she felt that the situation was urgent and he needed to know that he could have a daughter. Surely he'd be able to do a paternity test quickly and and save their son's love. Even if he wasn't her father, he's probably be powerful enough to save her.

"Where are you going?" Ben asked his mother before she was out the door.

"I'm going to try and bring her father here. I think I know who it could be and it's possible that he'd be able to save her." She replied with a smile before she followed her husband out the door.

"Like that's going to change anything." Ben whispered darkly before he looked back to Mal.

"Don't think this way Ben, we'll get her back. Good and True Love always wins, right?" Evie tried to reassure him.

"How am I supposed to believe it? Ever since we met, it's been one thing after the other against us, worst every time. Let's face it, if True Love's Kiss can't fix this, Mal's going to stay this way until whatever her mother wanted happens. And then it'll be too late, we'll have lost her." Ben snapped at her, his eyes shining a brighter yellow as he spoke, changing into the eyes of a Beast.

"Ben, your eyes..." Carlos started to say.

"I don't care about my eyes!" Ben barked as hair started to grow on him.

"You need to calm down and think positively Ben. You're not alone, we're here and we'll help you and her." Evie tried to say, slowly moving so that Jay was standing between Ben and her.

"You're becoming a Beast, man." Jay exclaimed.

"I don't care, don't you understand? I don't care what happens to me if she's not there. I can already feel like I'm losing her. I don't care what happens without her!" Ben yelled at them, while his transformation continued.

"You really should try to calm down, man." Jay tried to say while Evie backed away.

"I'll calm down when she's back." Ben yelled once more, making the walls shake, before turning back to Mal and, using his now furry hand, which was slowly turning into a paw, to hold Mal's hand.

"I... I'll go and warn his parents." Evie whispered before she ran out of the room.

.

Belle had left her husband to take care of the official kingdom business while she took a few guards with her to get Lance, Merlin's grandson and the one she suspected of being Mal's father. She took one of the fastest car they had and, within 6 hours of very fast driving, they arrived in front of the isolated house.

"Your Majesty? What are you doing here? We usually don't see royals in these parts." A tall man that seemed to be just under 40 years old and that she knew to be Lance asked her, coming out to greet her as soon as she stepped out of the car.

"I have something very important to tell you. You'll have a hard time believing me but it's important that you do. It's urgent and very serious." Belle stated.

"Come on in, what is it?" He asked her before serving her some tea.

"Do you remember ever meeting Maleficent before she was sent off to the Isle of the Lost?" Belle asked him.

"No, I don't think so, why?" He asked her.

"Have you heard of her daughter?" Belle asked him once more instead of answering his question.

"I read an article about it, yes. Why? What's going on?" He asked her.

"Well, there is no easy way to say it so... I think that you are Mal's father and that Maleficent took the memory of it away." Belle replied.

"What, how is that even possible? I mean, even if this really had happened and she had taken the memory away, it would have been over 20 years ago. This girl is only 16."

"Magic. She had a spell. Listen, it's a 6 hour drive back to Auradon and I really need you to come with me. I'll explain everything on the way and once there, you'll decide if you believe me or not but she's in grave danger and my son's True Love kiss can't save her. Maybe your magic can. Even if it turns out that she's not your daughter, please, come and help us." Belle pleaded.

"Fine, just let me pack a bag." Lance nodded after thinking about it for 5 minutes.

He was living so far away from everything because he was afraid of being used by royals but he didn't really have a choice now. It was for a good cause, to save a child, a child that might turn out to be his. He couldn't say no and stay back, he had to go and see. Maybe that would explain why he had been feeling uneasy for the past few months.

10 minutes later, they went back in the car. Lance had the magic staff that he inherited from his grandfather along with a grimoir, a few change of clothes and a few ingredients he needed to make a paternity testing potion. It wasn't in his habits to get involved in official kingdom business but if there was even a small chance that she could be his daughter, he needed to do whatever he could to help her.

On the way to Auradon, Belle explained everything to the powerful wizard, from Mal's arrival in school to how she had found him and everything they knew for sure about Mal's father. Then, Lance had started making a memory potion with what he had taken with him. He didn't need to let it cook and so it was done quickly and three hours into the drive, he could drink it.

"So, do you remember anything?" Belle asked him.

"I think so. Only one new memory came back to me. A woman, one night. I don't know if it was Maleficent or not, it was after a reunion with other people who had magic and she hide her face. I was lonely and she was willing... It matches the dates and places you described though. I can't believe I could be a father." Lance shook his head.

"You are her father, then?" Belle asked him.

"I don't know. I mean, I could be, the spell you told me about would work that way but it could also be someone else. I'll have to do a paternity test to be sure. It'll be quick though, I'll know withing 5 minutes."

"Good. Do you know how to get her out of her comatose state?"

"Well, if I really am her father, I'll be able to get into her head and help her away from her mother's influence and back to us. If I'm not... Well, I'm sure I'll think of something. Maybe I'll be able to get your son in her head instead, it'll be hard but I can do it." Lance declared.

"I hope so. I just received news from my husband that our son is changing into a Beast."

"Because of what's happening to Mal?"

"Yes. They're soul mates, losing her would be terrible for him and everyone in the kingdom." Belle shook her head.

"How is she? Mal, I mean. What kind of person is she, what does she like?" Lance asked her a few minutes later.

"She's had a hard life, Maleficent was definitely not up for 'Mother of the Year' award. She fights hard to be good though, she's loyal to her friends, smart, very talented when it comes to arts. I can't judge her about magic but she was able to defeat her mother while using Fairy Godmother's wand so..."

"This is a powerful wand, only the most powerful and pure hearted people can use it." Lance explained, impressed.

"I know." Belle nodded before she told her everything she knew about Mal, knowing that Lance was starting to feel close to the girl without even having met her yet.

.

When they arrived at their destination, Belle and Lance ran as fast as they could to her son's bedroom. They arrived to find the room very quiet.

Ben was a full Beast now and was rolled up at Mal's feet, forbidding anyone to go near her. Beast was petting him, keeping him calm while Jay, Evie and Carlos were on the opposite side of the room, each with a tick book, probably trying to find answers. Still present but carefully away from the potential danger that Ben could be.

Ben held Mal's half of the stone in his hand and when he saw his mother with this new man, he showed it to them.

"It's almost completely purple now!" Ben snapped angrily.

"I just need one of her hair to check if I'm her father." Lance stated, approaching carefully while looking at Ben for permission and the new beast nodded, allowing him to come near his love without taking his improved eyes off of him.

They all watched as the wizard placed her purple hair next to his brown one in a bottle filled with yellow liquid. When it became green, he smiled fondly.

"I'm her father. I'm a father." he whispered.

"Good, now save her!" Ben growled.

"Calm down Honey, he'll do his best." Belle scolded her son, not afraid of the beast he had become.

"Stop talking and act now! There's only one white stripe left and it's starting to get pink!" Ben roared.

Lance ignored the young beast' anger and placed both of his hands on each side of his newly discovered daughter's head.

.

Lance appeared in the tower Mal was conceived in and the teenager was reading a book about the darkest potions that existed. He wasn't surprised that someone like Maleficent would have a copy of that book. The only reason he had one in his own library was because his grandfather had taken it away from Morgana before he defeated her.

"Mal?" he asked her.

"Who are you?" She asked, dropping the book and standing up in one move.

"My name is Lance, I'm Merlin's grandson, and your father. Belle found me and I'm here to help you." he explained.

"I don't have a father, and who is this Belle? Why would she want you to help me? I don't need help." Mal denied.

"This, what you're seeing and living right now, it's not real, Mal. Your mother is poisoning your mind. She's clouding what's important to you like your Soul Mate and your friends and replacing it by her own will. I'm here to help you fight it, to bring you back to them. All you have to do is trust me, give me your hands and allow me to help you." Lance pleaded.

"You're not making any sense. My mother is..." Mal started to reply but he cut her off.

"Where is she? Where is your mother?" he asked her.

"She stepped out to get something right before you arrived, she'll be back soon." Mal replied.

"No, she's not real and her image only comes when you start doubting this reality. She's not here now because I'm using my powers to block her. Mal, you have friends waiting for you back in Auradon, a boyfriend who's your soul mate and needs you by his side." He explained to her.

"Ben." Mal whispered, remembering the visions she had had earlier.

"Yes, that's him. You need to fight against everything your mother wants of you Mal, you need to be your own person." he pleaded with her.

"Why would I do that? Being the next Maleficent is what I've always wanted." She shook her head, trying to fight it.

"No, it's what your mother wants you to be, what she wanted of you. You never wanted this Mal."

"How would you know? You don't know me." She shook her head.

"Maybe not, not yet anyway but on the way here Belle told me a lot about you. She told me how loyal you were to your friends and what a great person you are. She told me how proud and happy she was that her son's Soul Mate ended up being you. She told me how her husband loved you like his own daughter now and how enraged he was when he learned that your mother had found yet another way to hurt you, even from afar. You are beloved and everyone wants you to come back with me. Please Mal, I'm your father and I just want you to be happy and to have the opportunity to watch your happiness. Trust me Mal, take a chance on me, take my hands. The only thing I'll ask of you is for you to be yourself and to be happy and safe. I promise that if after that you want me to go away, I will." Lance asked her, extending both of his hands to her.

"What if you're lying?" She asked, obviously trying to fight her memories.

"Then nothing will happen once you place your hands in mine. If you're right, nothing will happen and we'll both still be here. If I'm right, you'll wake up in the life your mother tried to force you to forget with this curse." he smiled.

Nodding her agreement with his argument, she slowly placed her small hands in his larger ones and closer her eyes, deciding to put all of her trust in him.

.

"Something's happening!" Beast exclaimed, pointing to Mal's half of the rock which was slowly clearing up.

Immediately, Ben got off the bed and, while everyone else got closer to Mal and her father, he went to stand against the wall, as far away from the bed as possible, unwilling to let Mal see him like this, as a Beast. He was ashamed of what he had become without her and wondering what he'd do once she saw him. How would she react? Would she still love him like her mother loved her father or would she stop because he was too hairy?

"How are you feeling sweetie?" Belle asked Mal as soon as the girl sat up.

"Like my head is about to explode, or like it already exploded, I'm not sure." She replied, closing her eyes for a few seconds.

"It'll pass. It's the curse leaving." Lance explained.

Mal looked at him and was about to ask him if he really was her father when he spoke:

"Don't worry kiddo, we'll have all the time in the world to speak once you're feeling better." He smiled.

"Wait, where's Ben?" Mal asked after a few seconds, confused as to why he wasn't by her side.

Without really answering her, they all turned to where Ben stood, his head bent down.

"Oh no, Ben..." Mal whispered before she rushed to him, ignoring her headache.

"Don't come closer Mal, I don't want to hurt you." he told her, trying to get away from her.

"You could never hurt me Ben." Mal told him, full of confidence, before she stepped even closer to him and, before he could do anything to stop her, kissed him.

The magic happened almost immediately, forming a bubble of magic around the two of them before dissipating, leaving a happily back to normal couple.

"I was so afraid Mal, I thought for sure that I'd lose you." Ben told her, hugging her close to him.

"I know, and I was almost gone, too." she replied, laying her head on his shoulder, feeling exhausting.

"Mal should rest for a bit, this kind of spell takes a lot out of you. We should leave the two of them be for a while. Mal, I'm not going anywhere, I'll stick around until we talk, alright?" Lance declared.

"Where are you going to stay?" She asked him.

"He'll stay at the palace with us, we're family now after all. When you're ready, you and Ben come over and we'll have dinner together." Belle smiled.

Mal nodded, smiled at her father and went to lay down before everyone left.

For the next couple of hours, Mal and Ben snuggled in each other's arms and rested, happy to be back together and hoping that things would be good now. When they were done, a little before dinner time, they got changed and made their way to Ben's motorcycle so he could drive them to his parents' castle.

Mal was nervous about speaking with this man who claimed to be her father. What if he had only said that to get her out of her mother's curse? What if he didn't want anything to do with her? Could he really want her in his life?

"You worry too much Mal, it'll be fine, I know it." Ben reassured her before letting her in.

.

When they entered the castle's dinning room, Lance, Beast and Belle were already there, talking before dinner was served.

"Mal, how are you feeling?" Belle asked before anyone else could say anything.

"The headache is gone and I managed to rest a bit. I think I'll feel even better tomorrow." Mal replied honestly, loving the fact that Belle and Beast cared about her just as much as they cared about their son.

"Dinner won't be served before at least 30 minutes, why don't we leave Lance and Mal alone for that time so they can talk?" Beast suggested, thinking of using that time to speak to his son about his recent beast experience.

"Good idea dad. You'll be fine, I know it." Ben told his father before he spoke the second half to his girlfriend.

"So... You're my father?" Mal asked the sorcerer in a shy voice.

"Apparently so. I had no idea, you know, about you." He replied, not really knowing where to start.

"I know. My mother might have lied to me about a lot of things, but I knew she told me the truth when she said that my father had no idea that I existed." Mal replied.

"You're worried about her, aren't you?" he asked her.

"How could I not be after her last stunt? She's locked up in a special prison cell where she can't get even a message out and see or talk to nobody and she still found a way to hurt me." Mal shook her head, showing her vulnerable side.

"That's because she planted some sort of magical seed in your head when she had you hostage. Don't worry, your head is free now. She can't get in it anymore." His tone held a promise and Mal knew what he meant: even if Maleficent found a way, he'd save her.

"What if she finds another way? She could break out of her cell or find someone else to do her dirty job..." Mal expressed her worries.

"I'm here now Mal. I know that you don't know me and I don't know much about you but now that I know about you, there's no way I'm leaving without you. I'll stay around while you're in school and during the holidays, we'll either go home or visit some places, we'll see. We'll have to go home first though, we need to set a room for you and I'm sure you'll love to read Merlin's old books." Lance started to say and Mal smiled.

"You want me in your life?" She asked him before he could go further.

"Of course I do! You're my daughter, Mal. I know that being Maleficent's daughter has defined most of your life so far but it's time you learned what it means to be Merlin's heir, the first female one at that. I'm very proud of you Mal and I want to be your father, to help you define who you are, to watch you grow and to see you be happy." He assured her.

"Wait, I'm the first female heir of Merlin's?" Mal asked, trying to move the discussion away from feelings for now but she couldn't help but be happy that her father wanted her and wanted her to be happy.

"Yes, you are, and I'm sure you'll be very powerful once you've taken the time to discover all of your powers." Lance told her.

"Do... Do you think I'll be able to change into a dragon like my mother?" She asked him in a small voice.

Changing into a dragon was the only thing she ever really wanted from her mother, the only thing she wanted to be able to do.

"Well, I can't but Merlin could. Since your mother can do it, or could before you reduced her form to one of a lizard, you'll probably be able to. It's nothing to be ashamed of, too. The dragon is a very noble and powerful animal, one that can do evil or good, depending on who's in control." He smiled.

"I hope I can. I've had dreams about it, ever since I was a little girl. I'm a great green and light purple dragon flying over the world... It feels great freeing." Mal confessed.

"If you've dreamt about it, it means that the dragon is in you. I'll help you find it during the next school break if you want." He offered.

"I think I'd like that." She nodded.

"And, since they can't go back to the Isle of the Lost anymore, if your friends want to come with us instead of staying alone at school, they'll be welcome. I can see how close you are to them." Lance suggested, making Mal smile even more.

"I'm sure they'll love that idea, thank you."

"Anything Mal. I never thought I'd be a father but after everything I've heard about you, I can't help but be proud and honored to be your father. I promise you, I'll always be there for you, no matter what. All I want is for you to be happy." He assured her, kneeling in front of her and looking her in the eyes to make sure she understood how serious he was being.

"I... I'm glad you're my father. I'm not good at sharing my feelings but I'm happy that you decided to find me and that you want to stick around. I really want to get to know you." Mal admitted.

"And I know how worried you are about your mother. If it makes you feel better, I'll talk to King Beast about taking you to see her. It might make you feel safer if you can see where she's locked up and that she can't break out." He offered as he hugged her.

"I think I'd like that, yes." She nodded.

"And I promise you not to play the overprotective father with your boyfriend." He smiled, trying to lift the mood.

"Good thing too, he's the king after all." Mal chuckled.

"Does he make you happy?"

"The happiest I've been in my life so far." Mal replied truthfully.

"Then I have no reason to protest. I'll go after him if he ever breaks your heart, which, given that you're soul mates, will probably never happen." he smiled.

"Thank you for being here." Mal whispered, hugging him again.

"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else." he replied, happy to know that the teenage girl in his arms was his daughter, his heir.

"I was afraid you wouldn't want to have anything to do with me because of who my mother is." Mal confessed after a few seconds of silence.

"How could I not want anything to do with such a wonderful young woman?" He smiled at her.

"Some people think that we're just like our parents, that we're not worth spending time with..." Mal told him.

"I know, people are easily scared but after what Belle told me about you on the way here... A person who inspires as much love and respect as you do deserves to be believed in, Mal. Somehow, in the few months you've spent here, you managed to have King Beast, who's not an easy man, and Queen Belle, love you like one of their own. They believe in you and would go to great length for you, all because of who you proved to be, who you are."

"I'm betting most of it comes from you." Mal smiled, touched by his compliments.

"Well, I'd like to think so. I don't think Maleficent used to have a lot of friends." he chuckled.

"She only knows servants, minions. She doesn't have friends, just people that could be useful to her some day." Mal replied and Lance could tell that she was thinking that she, too, was nothing more than someone useful to her mother.

"That's her loss." Lance smiled.

"So, where do you live?" She asked him.

"In our family home, which isn't much. It's a small house lost in the Enchanted woods. There's a road that leads up to it but not many people come, and that's the way I liked it."

"Why? Don't you feel lonely?"

"When loneliness gets too much, I go in town and spend some time with the villagers but I tried to stay away from the larger towns."

"Why?" She was confused now.

"My grandfather was, as you know, very famous and my father used this fame to get famous as well. He didn't see as royals manipulated him to get what they wanted and he died young because of that. It scared me and I decided to stay away from people as much as possible. I didn't want anyone to use my magic or me... I go to the nearby villages, help them with my magic whenever I can, when there is no hope for something else working but I ask my intervention silent in exchange. When I saw a royal car park in front of my house I was surprised, I thought maybe someone broke out of the Isle of the Lost or something... Then I saw the Queen and her grave face and I knew it was something personal and even more serious than that."

"But if you wanted to stay away from people and royal, why did you go with her?" Mal asked him, trying to understand.

"Because even though I stay away from big cities and castles, I heard about King Beast and Queen Belle, I knew that they were good people, trying to stay away from magic as much as possible. I knew that for them to come to me, it was something important. Plus, for the past few months I've had a feeling, I'll teach you to recognize them later, that something big and life changing was going to happen to me. I knew that I had to go with her, that something important to me was waiting for me at our destination." He tried to explain.

"And that was me?"

"Yes Mal, it was you." he smiled.

"Ben is behind the door, waiting. I think his parents are with him. I think it's time for dinner but they don't want to interrupt anything." Mal informed her father, feeling her bond with Ben working.

"Let's let them in then, we'll have all the time in the world to talk some more later." Lance smiled, using his powers to open the double doors, revealing a blushing Ben.

As they ate and laughed together, as a family probably often did, Mal couldn't help but pray for it to continue. She didn't want it to end, she was truly happy. She had Ben, her friends and even a loving and accepting father.

A few days ago, Mal had been dreading the school breaks. She knew that while all of the other student would happily go back to their families, she would have to stay back, along with her friends, or risk their lives to go back to the Isle of the Lost. Now she couldn't wait for it to come so she could spend more time with her father, learn more magic and discover who she really was. Her father accepted her, loved her and he'd help her control her magic, he'd push her to be herself without holding back.

* * *

 **And here you go, a third part with Mal's father, or my version of him.**

 **I don't know if I'll write more of this but, who knows... An idea is like a seed, it can grow fast...**

 **Review please? Tell me what you thought about it.**

 **Lorelei Candice Black**


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